The Situation of Mexico

Matías Francisco Orosio Romero Avendaño (24 February 1837 - 30 December 1898) was a Mexican politician and diplomat who served three times as Secretary of Finance and twice as ambassador of Mexico to the United States during the 19th century.
The Situation of Mexico, which we propose to our readers today, is the text of a speech delivered by Romero, as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the Republic of Mexico to the United States, at a dinner in the city of New York on the 16th of December, 1863.
This speech is a pivotal diplomatic document. At the time, Mexico was embroiled in the French Intervention, while the United States was in the midst of its own Civil War. Romero’s primary goal was to reshape American public opinion and garner support for the Liberal government of Benito Juárez against the French-backed monarchy.
The speech is a masterpiece of 19th-century diplomacy. It successfully translates the complex "Guerra de Reforma" into terms that resonated with American values of the era: democracy, secularism, and the Monroe Doctrine. It remains a vital text for understanding the ideological foundations of the Mexican Republic and its historical relationship with the United States.